IT IS difficult for anyone to hear the story of Barings without feeling a wicked twinge of satisfaction at the manner in which Britain's oldest merchant bank was brought to its knees and, just for once, the upper classes got their come-uppance.

THE CHIEF executive of ING Barings, the investment banking arm of Dutch financial services group ING, quit yesterday after only five months in the job. The bank, which has been hit by recent high-level defections from its corporate finance department, said ING chairman Marinus Minderhoud would take over responsibility for the investment bank until a replacement was found for Arjun Mathrani, who joined from Chase Manhattan.

Sark is such a wonderful island. The tranquil atmosphere delivers such a restful frame of mind that you become totally detached from the world. It was not surprising when, after a mere five days, I had forgotten that there had ever been an Asian crisis. Until President Suharto resigned, of course. But does this change at the top really make any difference?

Roland Shaw, one of the great swashbucklers of the early North Sea oil boom, is set to make a comeback to the stock market with a flotation of Burren Energy that could value the company at more than pounds 80m.

Swiss Bank Corporation snapped up US investment bank Dillon Read yesterday in a $600m (pounds 366m) deal that confirmed the high prices being paid for a slice of Wall Street's corporate finance and advisory work. The acquisition followed hot on the heels of the collapse of talks between Dillon and its former 40 per cent shareholder, ING, the Dutch financial services group that owns Barings.